Rhetorical Strategies: The
backbone of persuasion
How would you define the words
rhetoric or rhetorical?
Classic Definitions of Rhetoric
 Aristotle: Rhetoric is "the faculty of discovering
in any particular case all of the available means
of persuasion.”
 Cicero: Rhetoric is "speech designed to
persuade."
 Ms. Bond: “Rhetoric describes any speaking or
writing that is persuasive in nature or structured
to make a sound argument, and may contain
specific devices used to persuade.”
Questions to consider when reading any text –
what is being expressed and how?
 CONTENT – WHAT
 What is the purpose of the text?
 What questions does the text address?
 Who is the intended audience?
 What are the author’s basic values, beliefs, and assumptions?
 METHOD – HOW
 How does the author support his/her thesis with reason and
evidence? (What views and counterarguments or
counterevidence are included? Which are omitted?)  logic
 How does the author make himself seem credible to the
intended audience? How does the author refer to general
ethics and morals?  ethics
 How does the author make the argument emotionally
compelling?  emotions
______________________________________________
*Once these questions are answered, you have formed the basis
for the analysis of rhetoric/persuasion.
Rhetorical Elements/Modes of
Persuasion
 Aristotle outlined 3 overall ways to persuade:
Logos: appeals to logic/reason – the “power of proving a
truth, or an apparent truth”.
Pathos: appeals to emotion – the “power of stirring the
emotions” of the audience.
Ethos: appeals to ethics/values, or the ethical credibility
of the speaker – “the speaker's power of creating a
personal character which will make his speech credible”.
*GOOD WRITING CONTRIBUTES TO ETHOS

Source for quotations: Honeycutt, Lee. “Aristotle’s Rhetoric: Index to Book One.” Rhetoric and Composition. 9/27/11. Web. Accessed 9/8/12.
http://rhetoric.eserver.org/aristotle/oneindex.html.
Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical devices used include:
Charged words (diction)
Restatement
Repetition
Rhetorical questions/hypophora
Aphorisms
Allusions
Analogy
Parallel structure and antithesis
*We will now explore all these using examples
from “The Trial of Arthur Miller.”
Device: Charged Words
Charged words (diction) are those
producing an emotional response:
“most frightening dilemma that a people and a
government has ever faced” (p. 1, para 1)
“traitors to the nation” (p. 1, para 8)
“deep and wounding shame” (p. 1, para 10)
Device: Repetition
 Repetition is the direct repetition of words or phrases,
often added for emphasis, to establish tone, and
convey perspective.
 There are some words that are repeated frequently in
“The Virginia Convention” why?
Loyalty
Fight
Liberty
peace
Device: Restatement
 Restatement is repeating an idea in a variety of
ways. Consider the number of ways Steinbeck
stated that the government’s actions are
immoral:
“To name them would not only be disloyal but actually
immoral. The Committee then is asking me to commit an
immorality in the name of public virtue” (p. 1, para 8).
“…I would be brave enough to fortify and defend my
private morality as he has” (p. 2, para 8).
Devices: Rhetorical Questions/Hypophora
 Rhetorical questions are those whose answers are
self-evident:
“And we in America have felt safe from and
superior to these things. But are we so safe or
superior?” (p. 2, para 4).
 Hypophora is when a question is asked and
immediately answered:
“Their legal right is clearly established, but should
they not think of their moral responsibility also? In
their attempts to save the nation from attack, they
could well undermine the deep personal morality
which is the nation’s first defense” (p. 2, para 5).
Devices: Aphorism & Allusion
 Aphorisms are concise statements expressing a
wise observation.
Not from “Trial of Arthur Miller”: “If you can’t say
anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
“You can’t slice up morals. Our virtues begin at
home” (p. 2, para 1).
 Allusions are references to other well-known
works, people, etc.
“In Hitler’s Germany, it was considered patriotic
to report your friends and relations to the
authorities” (p. 2, para 4).
Device: Analogy
In rhetoric, analogies are reasoning or
explaining from parallel cases. They are
also known as extended metaphors.
Analogies can be hypothetical. Steinbeck
bases his whole essay on a hypothetical
analogy in para 3 on the first page:
“Let me suppose that I were going to
trial for contempt of Congress as he is.”
Devices: Parallelism and Antithesis
 Parallelism or parallel structure is the use of words, phrases,
clauses, or sentences that are similar in structure:
 “I am indicted, convicted, sent to prison.” (all past tense
verbs) (p. 2, para 6)
 “He taught me—glory to God, honor to my family,
loyalty to my friends…” (all concept nouns linked to a
person or group of people) (p. 2, last para)
 Antithesis is the juxtaposition (purposeful placement) of
opposing ideas in balanced (parallel) phrases or clauses:
 “If I agree, I have outraged one of our basic codes of
conduct, and if I refuse I am guilty of contempt of
Congress[…] One way outrages my sense of decency
and the other brands me a felon” (p. 1, para 9).
 NOW YOU TRY—what opposing ideas or words are seen
here?: “It may occur to me that a man who is disloyal to his
friends could not be expected to be loyal to his country” (p.
2, para 1).
Also…
Tone and other types of figurative
language (metaphor, hyperbole,
understatement, etc.) can also contribute
to the rhetoric of a text. Make sure to take
notice of those devices as well. Anything
on your terminology sheet can probably be
used for persuasive purposes.
Review
 Now we will link the terminology of rhetorical
elements/modes of persuasion (logos, ethos, and
pathos) with that of specific rhetorical devices
(charged words, allusions, etc.) 
 Which devices are likely to be used in a logical manner
and will therefore contribute to logos?
 Which are likely to be used to tap into ethics or credibility
and therefore contribute to ethos?
 Which are likely to be used to tap into emotions and
therefore contribute to pathos?
*Some devices may be present in more than one category.
It all depends on the intended audience and the purpose of
the writer/speaker.
Logos devices
Ethos devices
(ethics)
Pathos devices
(emotions)